News Releases

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, BYTON, an innovator of smart, premium electric vehicles, announced a partnership with Aurora, a leading self-driving technology company. The partnership will help BYTON incorporate Level 4 (L4) autonomous-driving vehicle capabilities into BYTON vehicles and enable BYTON to become among the very first group of carmakers to bring L4 and eventually Level 5 (L5) cars to market.

In the next two years, BYTON and Aurora will jointly conduct pilot deployment of Aurora's L4 autonomous driving systems on BYTON vehicles. Additionally, BYTON and Aurora will explore the use of Aurora's self-driving system in BYTON's series production vehicles. According to the Society of Automotive Engineers, L4 autonomous vehicles can drive independently in most environments, with the expectations that humans may need or choose to drive in some conditions.

"BYTON is designed for the age of autonomous driving. We are pleased to partner with Aurora, as Aurora is supremely focused on a mission to deliver the benefits of self-driving vehicles safely, quickly and globally," said Dr. Carsten Breitfeld, CEO and Co-Founder of BYTON.

Dr. Daniel Kirchert, President and Co-Founder at BYTON, added, "I'm confident that Aurora will be instrumental in helping BYTON achieve its objectives as an innovator of smart, premium electric cars with Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous driving."

Chris Urmson, CEO at Aurora, said, "We are excited to partner with BYTON, an innovator in the electric vehicle industry, to further advance our goal of delivering self-driving vehicles quickly, broadly and safely. We look forward to piloting this technology in California."

Earlier last month at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, BYTON premiered its BYTON Concept and announced plans to design and build smart premium electric cars for the Chinese, U.S. and European markets. Sales are set to begin in China in 2019, and sales in the United States and Europe to start in 2020.

BYTON aims to create a premium brand rooted in China which has a global reach. Its global headquarters, intelligent manufacturing base and R&D center are located in Nanjing, China, while its North American headquarters, devoted to intelligent car experience, autonomous driving, whole vehicle integration and other cutting-edge technologies, are based in the Silicon Valley. The company's vehicle concept and design center is located in Munich. BYTON also has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to handle external affairs, marketing, sales, design and investor relations.

BYTON's core management team is made up of the world's top experts from China, Europe and the U.S., all of whom have held senior management positions in innovative companies such as BMW, Tesla, Google and Apple. Their expertise covers automotive design, automotive engineering and manufacturing, electric powertrain, intelligent connectivity, autonomous driving, user interface and supply chain management among other industry sectors, the sum of which represents BYTON's strengths in manufacturing premium automobiles that are equipped with high quality internet technologies.

As an innovation-driven start-up, BYTON has completed its series A financing. Current shareholders include BYTON's founding team, Harmony Auto, Auto Investments, League Automotive Technologies, Legend Capital, and industrial investment fund in Jiangsu, China, and Chengdu Group among other investors.